Attempts to provide seven day GP access in Devon still has a long way to go.

NHS England and NHS Improvement said it had a set target of October 1 for all patients to have access to extended hours, instead of the end of March 2019 as originally planned. From this date, it will be mandatory for all Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to put in place arrangements for extended access to general practice.

GP surgeries are now offering more flexible opening

However, it will not be obligatory for GPs to provide the access. Extended access means appointments must be available in the early mornings from 8am Monday to Friday, in the evenings after 6.30pm Monday to Friday and at weekends.

Within the area covered by Northern, Eastern and Western (NEW) Devon CCG there are 880,215 registered patients. Of those, 100 practices offer no extended access. It means the number of registered patients not being offered the service is 119,462.

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In the South Devon and Torbay CCG area there is 283,635 patients and 28 practices which don’t offer extended hours. It means 31,067 patients don’t have the service.

However, Devon’s CCG’s have launched a new service which means more than 550,000 patients are now able to benefit from 24-hour online access to their GP practice.The new service is on many of Devon practices’ websites, aiming to help people get the right treatment they need at a time that is convenient to them for non-emergency ailments.

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More registered Devon patients than anywhere else in the region can now fill out an online e-consultation form, which is then reviewed by a GP, before a response is sent to the patient within one working day.

In June alone, more than 1,500 online consultations took place across the county. These would otherwise have been face-to-face consultations, so GPs’ time was freed up to see more patients with more urgent needs.

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Speed cameras

Dr John McCormick, chief clinical information officer for Devon’s CCGs, said: “eConsult is a new way of being able to contact your GP and get medical advice from your practice. You go onto your practice website and it’s right there in the centre of the website.

“We have piloted this system in several practices and it has proved hugely beneficial for patients and practices.“This is because patients are getting quicker access to health advice, which in turn means that those who need to see a GP can get an appointment more quickly.

Dr John McCormick

“When a patient completes an online form about their condition, a GP will get in touch with the patient to give advice, offer an appointment if needed, or issue a prescription.

”The aim is that all Devon patients will have access to eConsult through their GP practice’s website by the end of this year."

Regarding extended hours care, NHS England has told it is on track to meet this target, which it says currently stands at 55 per cent.An NHS England spokesperson said:“The NHS is investing at least £258m this year to offer improved access to general practice, including evening and weekend appointments. This is ahead of schedule with appointments available to more than half the country now, and they will be available across the whole country by October this year.”